Electric Vehicles

The electrification of transportation and the trend of electric mobility have been accelerating. In 2022, California and four other U.S. states, along with the EU, enacted standards that ban the sale of new combustion-engine cars by 2035. However, in 2025 the U.S. Senate voted to block California's ability to ban gas-powered car sales, and the Trump administration revoked federal policies and programs supporting the transition to EVs, including a 2021 Biden administration goal that by 2030 50 percent of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. will be battery powered as well as $3 billion in federal funding to expand the U.S. EV charging network.

While EVs are part of the solution to decarbonizing transportation, they are not the only solution. Norway, the country with the highest rate of EVs, is rethinking its approach to EV promotion as the e-mobility transition is increasing car ownership and raising equity questions. Equity is also an issue in the U.S., where nearly 72 percent of public EV chargers are situated in the wealthiest 20 percent of counties. Other challenges, such as the need for battery recycling, have yet to be resolved, though innovations and potential solutions are being proposed. Recent reports of hackers targeting EV chargers have also raised cybersecurity concerns, especially in light of personal data that is being shared with EVs. Safety is another question, as the heavier weights of EVs make crashes more deadly and put extra stress on roadways and parking garages.

Simply replacing gas-fueled cars with EVs is not a sustainable solution. Planners and local governments must also embrace the wide variety of alternative transportation options available today. For more on EVs, check out "Electric Vehicles Are on the Rise. Is Your Community Ready?" from Planning, "Preparing for the Electric Vehicle Surge" from Zoning Practice, and "Planning for On-Street EV Charging Infrastructure" from PAS Memo.